Cool science stuff

"Would you like lentils with that?"

 

Only if the menu and prep process are authentic.

 

Or a linebacker in Key and Peele's latest East-West Bowl skit.

 

Toga Bell

 

It lacks some menu options. The only salad they serve is a Caesar.
I hear the desserts are good, though. The lava cake will melt your mouth.

 

Lava Me or Lava Me Not

 

Well played, sir!

 

The latest SpaceX rocket is taking an all-civilian crew not quite to deep space, but deeper than anything that's been done since at least the end of the Shuttle program.
One of the crew is medical officer Hayley Arceneaux. Her father is the late Howard Arceneaux, who was a journalism professor at LSU. He was also the faculty advisor of the student paper for a long time.

Liftoff! Hayley Arceneaux, three others begin historic all-civilian space flight

 

That's a great story. My brother said the launch last night was very interesting. He described an aurora-like glowing halo effect around the stage separation from his house on Merritt Island. High-altitude ice particles? I'm not sure what he saw.

 

This is interesting.



The abstract of the original paper:

Paracetamol (N-acetyl-p-aminophenol (APAP), otherwise known as acetaminophen) is the active ingredient in more than 600 medications used to relieve mild to moderate pain and reduce fever. APAP is widely used by pregnant women as governmental agencies, including the FDA and EMA, have long considered APAP appropriate for use during pregnancy when used as directed. However, increasing experimental and epidemiological research suggests that prenatal exposure to APAP might alter fetal development, which could increase the risks of some neurodevelopmental, reproductive and urogenital disorders. Here we summarize this evidence and call for precautionary action through a focused research effort and by increasing awareness among health professionals and pregnant women. APAP is an important medication and alternatives for treatment of high fever and severe pain are limited. We recommend that pregnant women should be cautioned at the beginning of pregnancy to: forego APAP unless its use is medically indicated; consult with a physician or pharmacist if they are uncertain whether use is indicated and before using on a long-term basis; and minimize exposure by using the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible time. We suggest specific actions to implement these recommendations. This Consensus Statement reflects our concerns and is currently supported by 91 scientists, clinicians and public health professionals from across the globe.​

I don’t take acetaminophen because it’s never worked as a pain reliever for me and carries the potential for liver damage.

 

NASA will shoot rocket at asteroid to test ‘planetary defense’ strategy

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/06/nasa-asteroid-dart-dimorphos/

NASA will launch a spacecraft next month to hit an asteroid — on purpose — to change its path, testing for the first time a method of “planetary defense,” the agency announced Tuesday.

The launch of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission will occur at 1:20 a.m. Eastern time on Nov. 24, NASA said. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will be launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, about 50 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, Calif.


NASA is targeting a pair of asteroids that orbit the sun and occasionally come close to Earth. The asteroids don’t come close enough to pose a threat, NASA says, but their proximity makes them a prime candidate for the test of a technique that could someday prevent a “hazardous asteroid from striking Earth.”


“We’re going to make sure that a rock from space doesn’t send us back to the Stone Age,” Thomas Statler, a NASA scientist, said on the agency’s podcast.

 

Physics 101. If you know the mass and velocity of Object 1 (the asteroid) and the mass and velocity of Object 2 (the rocket), you should be able to calculate the change in orbit of the asteroid. Just a change of a few millimeters per day can add up over centuries. Of course, the danger is you could knock it on course to crash into Earth ....